"I definitely wasn't going to play basketball," Delva recalled. "I played a few games in high school because I was taller than everybody. All I made were layups, but I missed a lot too. I was going to be a cheerleader."

In a sense, Delva made good on her goal of bringing fans to their feet. She just never realized that it could be accomplished without the aid of pom-poms.

"If you asked me in high school, I never thought I would be where I am today," Delva said by telephone Thursday, one week after the University of Hartford's 6-foot-2 senior center was named the America East Player of the Year. "I guess I got a little better the last few years. I've come a long way since my Westhill days."

Delva's gift for understatement has caught up to her skill. The Hawks are 27-3 and ranked No. 21 in the nation heading into tonight's conference championship game against Vermont. The team is 18-0 in league play if you include its two playoff wins.

Related Stories

Delva is a big reason why. She leads the team in scoring (14.4), rebounding (8.2) and an astounding 65 percent shooting percentage, a testament to her ability to control the paint.

And when it comes to the quickest development in the shortest period of time, Delva is without equal.

"I don't think you'd be able to predict she would become the player she's become," said Hartford coach Jen Rizzotti, whose success as a player at the University of Connecticut, in the WNBA and, now, running a major college program makes her uniquely qualified as a talent evaluator.

Then again, no one really saw this coming.

"I remember her basketball background was almost zero," said Westhill coach Mike King, thinking back to his introduction to the player who would start the program's run of four straight appearances in the FCIAC championship game. "She was extremely awkward, didn't know a good many of the rules."

In a JV game against Bassick, Delva even pulled a Jim Marshall, scoring into the wrong basket.

"That's where she came from, which makes this story all the more remarkable," King said. "Each year, for the last eight years, she's shown vast improvement. It says a lot about her."

Rizzotti's initial impressions during the recruiting process were equally speculative.

"I remember watching her play, and she'd grab every rebound, have great touch around the basket, but I wasn't sure she could do anything else," Rizzotti said. "It was really hard to tell."

The big jump, everyone admits, came during the summer before her senior year at Westhill, when Delva flourished in AAU play against a higher level of competition.

"You could see her mobility and athleticism and aggressiveness," Rizzotti said. "Not a lot of schools were recruiting her. She had a great summer and we were probably the highest-level school going after her. In our league, when you are 6-feet or 6-1, there are not many players taller."

Delva credited King with setting her foundation and Rizzotti for building on it.

"I learned a lot of things at Westhill, and then coming to Hartford has been a really good experience," Delva said. "When I got here I was told not to limit myself."

Delva was a part-time player early in her freshman season at Hartford, before injuries led to more minutes and a quicker maturation.

"Diana is the type of kid who likes to stay in the background, she's not looking for attention," Rizzotti said. "She was thrust into a bigger role and we told her that we needed her. She had a great freshman season and kept getting better."

Delva was named to the America East third team her rookie year. The following season, she got her first college start against Kansas, and led the team with 18 points and seven rebounds.

The trajectory of her career has continued to go straight up ever since.

Delva is hoping to help win a conference title tonight for the second time in her career. "I'm really happy with where I am right now," she said. "Our goal this season was to win the championship. We lost last season and that has been over motivation. We won it my sophomore year. It was supposed to be every year."

Next week comes the NCAA Tournament and a final chance to shine in the national spotlight.

And after that?

"I definitely want to play professionally," Delva said. "I don't want to get a job, not yet. I'd like to stay in America and if not go overseas."

Rizzotti, who was named Hartford's coach 12 days after helping the Houston Comets win the title, played in the WNBA for five years.

"I think it's a possibility," she said of Delva's chances. "It will take being in the right situation. Not a lot of teams have a spot for a rookie if they are not drafted in the first round, but I give her a chance if a team has an opening. If it happens, great, if not she can easily have a career overseas."

Delva was asked if it all seemed real, the girl who a short time ago thought the three-second rule was how long her tryout on a basketball court would last could end up getting paid for a sport she has grown to both love and master.

"I never expected it to turn out this way," she said. "I'm glad it did. I'm just lucky there were people who saw things in me and gave me an opportunity."